Collecting Archer Maclean's Arcades and Arcade Workshop Parts

[@markwrightrf]

RIP Archer. As a mid-80s Atarian, Drop Zone and IK were titles I spent many hours with and were the envy of my Speccy owning friends. Humble chap.

[@aaldrich1982]

what a legacy, not only his work but his collection which will no doubt help restore a lot of cabs. it's immense.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Hopefully we can get Sprint 2 working now with a spare monitor. Thanks for watching

[@eliotcole]

Archer Maclean's Pool, though ... *_LEGENDARILY_** GOOD* !

[@Andrew-ck1ob]

Dropzine is one my earliest memories of gaming on the Atari 800

[@neilmcgrory1720]

Archer was an absolute legend deserving of having his legacy permanently displayed in a museum (or two, as doubtless the Cave also has many examples of his work). Great job.

[@davidretrogamesplayedbadly3533]

Played so many of archers games over the years, was so sad to hear of his passing. Brilliant to see some of his amazing collection being distributed within the community.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks David

[@CyberPin2001]

Archer was an exceptionally talented programmer, someone who could create arcade quality games on hardware far inferior to what was available in the arcade. From the interviews I have seen he was also a lovely chap, super friendly, super modest, and great fun. I have always been a fan of his work and as a programmer now, and someone who coded on the Atari 8-bits in assembly language back in the day, I used to look at his games and wonder how did he manage that! Seeing part of his arcade collection here, it is plain to see his real passion and love for arcade and video games. An absolute perfectionist. That is why his games were so perfect. Just take a look at the original version of Dropzone for the Atari 8-bits. The attract sequence alone is superb, the way the Dropzone title breaks into multiple scanlines, one by one, and drops down the screen, reassembling at the bottom, as the high scores, etc fade in. That is arcade quality and there weren't many home titles like that. The C64 version didn't have that. Knowing the complexities of assembler coding and the Atari 8-bits capabilities, you can see the work he put into the attract sequence alone is unbelievable and it shows his desire to create an arcade quality game for home. That Dropzone cabinet looks fantastic so seeing that up and running in the arcade, running the various Dropzone version would be a perfect tribute to a smashing fella.

[@Daz555Daz]

What a legend. He will be sorely missed. Dropzone on Atari will forever be in my top 10 arcade games of all time.

[@KimParkerAdcock]

Thank you so much for sharing this. Arch and I were great friends for many years, he's truly missed by so many of us including his old team from Awesome - we had an unofficial memorial for him in their local earlier this year. I remember playing Pacman at his old house, and the time he realised he had the biggest collection in Europe. He would be absolutely thrilled if you restored the Dropzone cabinet. An Archer Room would be amazing. I'll bring the Kleenex this made me cry all over again.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks for your kind words and I promise you we will finish his dropzone and I’m sure it will be loved by many. Thank you 🙏

[@user-ub1dz8js7s]

was Dropzone also an Arcade Cabinet ? who distributed if so ? UPDATE: 6:43 ah ok !!

[@kevinmccartney4906]

You'rw doing good and right 🤝 Would love to see the tribute Drop Zone cab! Very cool!

[@rmrepairs]

Great to see this stuff in the right hands. Pity there wasn't a games room tour with the great man himself. I'd love to play on that dropzone cab, knowing who created it. Thanks for taking the time to make this video.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

A game room tour would have been amazing when he had all his games. If we can get that dropzone working his legacy will live on.

[@Rob.Coleman]

What an incredible legacy, pleased to see the cabs and serviceable parts going where they'll be most appreciated. Finishing the Dropzone cab would be a fitting tribute. RIP Archer McLean. Your memory lives on.

[@Ed-eq5kd]

Great stuff Alex, nice story and for sure Archer would be very pleased with the new home for some of his collection

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks Ed 😎👍

[@earlbrown4398]

His legacy lives on, and in safe hands! Well done to all involved, great initiative and a great video!

[@retro_reflections]

A fantastic video - was fortunate to meet Archer back in the day as a games journo, really nice guy who was up for a good chinwag about coin-ops. Glad to see you've finally landed a Pac-Man as well, Alex. 👍

[@TheArcadeArchive]

That’s cool you got to meet him 👍

[@electricadventures]

The creator of one of the most inspiring games that came out for the 8-bit machines, I first played it on the Atari 8-bits and loved it. Wow, that side art for the DropZone cab looks fantastic! Looks like he was a proper arcade enthusiast, so many items there, and good to hear they will continue to benefit the community.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks Tony Hopefully we can get that cab running dropzone in one way or another which will be amazing

[@seantagg3640]

Fantastic video. How beautiful is that Dropzone side art!

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks Sean. Hopefully the owner will decide to make it dropzone

[@jumpingeneral]

Sorry for the loss of your friend. You all are true fiends to help preserve his collection. Have a blessed day Alex🤝

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thank you my friend

[@NivagSwerdna]

RIP Archer. Well done to UKVAC for sorting out the collection. The side art of the Drop Zone is fantastic!

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thank you

[@Evercade_Effect]

I love the idea of the drop zone cab and can't wait to see all the stuff you got for the museum.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Should be able to get a few working now with some of these spares

[@retroimportgamer513]

A treasure trove of goodies there Alex, so nice to hear it's all going to good homes. Great to get some supplies for the museum and the Pacman will be a great addition That Drop zone project would be amazing to finish off for him, totally agree, that side art is epic 👍✌️

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks James Hopefully at some point we can get it running different versions of dropzone.

[@TheChrisBeans]

Wonderful stuff!! I saw the thread on UKVAC, and was a little concerned that a lot of stuff would get scooped up too cheap and flipped. Great to see it went to the right folk, and that they’re either on loan or fetching fair prices for Archer’s son. I’ll have a game of IK+ soon in honour of Archer. Really enjoyed this

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thank you 🙏

[@ewstargamer]

Really good to see his collection going to someone that will love it as much as he did Great video Alex 👍

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks Alex 😎👍

[@wolfbeast80]

Rest in peace, Archer. Your passion and dedication to the community have been beyond words. Although I didn't know much about him, I knew that he was one of the greats, and he had done a service keeping those great games alive. He seemed to be an awesome person to hang out with and a great friend to all with the community.

[@semilife]

Sad news, was a huge fan of his. Glad to see his legacy live on.

[@Nas_Atlas]

What a legend. We are all thankful for his contributions.

[@OneSwitch]

Nice job. Would love to see some photos of Archer's arcade. I seem to recall a black arched area into the arcade, from some old magazine, but little more. On those obscure PCBs, we definitely had Atari Super Bug's in the UK, as it was one of the first machines I gravitated to in Southend (Mr B's I think). Also remember the fire engine game that was just like Super Bug in an arcade at the start of the pier in the early/mid 1980s.

[@craigshereagain6008]

Great piece on Archer, I have played some of his games on the amiga, dropzone too is one I've played but quite late in the day, snes and PlayStation, really enjoyed that game. Looks like some very unusual pcbs in that bundle, hope someone's can make use of them as they sound very niche and rare. I love that artwork on the dropzone cab he was making, would be great if you could complete the project in his memory and have it setup for people to enjoy. Great video Alex, hope all is going well for you down there, top work 👍

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks Craig I’m away for week on holiday but looking forward to getting back in the museum. You should come down sometime mate be good to see you

[@ArcadeAzrall]

What an incredible collection. I've only ever heard of Archer through the various forum posts on UKVAC, the chap seemed like an absolute pillar of the community. Though I am glad that his collection will live on through your museum. Thanks for showcasing this, Alex, it's been a joy to watch.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks Allan much appreciated mate

[@GoodwinsPlace]

Amazing collection and history there. Id love a Pac Man cab in the house, think that or Galaga would replace my Astro Fighter in the living room.

[@stephenelliott7071]

Aw wow, Archer was a legend so you've got to have a Mister Atari 8-bit version of Dropzone running in that cab (apparently he thought the C64 version was inferior lol, he wrote both versions ofcourse). I'm a big fan of IK, then he turned his attention to the 16-systems to release more great games there too, RIP...Now I know what you mean about the news on Pacman haha. Great news!

[@TheArcadeArchive]

I’ve not played the Atari 8 bit version only the NES and super dropzone and both games are fantastic.

[@pmxgaming]

Great collection. RIP Archer

[@thisyearscolour]

❤️🕹️ Amazing video. RIP Archer.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thank you 🙏

[@arcadesunday4592]

Awesome pick ups there ! Definitly lookig forward to seeing what you actuality collected.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks mate I’ll go through the stuff in another video

[@joebristowtechnologicalbre2073]

Great saving, I could do with a gran trak 10 pcb to help save the cab saved from France. Posted on Facebook also.

[@bobbus_74]

I love the idea of a Dropzone cab with all the versions playable. Good to hear you'll be at Zzap Live too. 😁👍

[@TheArcadeArchive]

I’ll see you there come up and say high

[@bobbus_74]

@TheArcadeArchive I will indeed. I'll also be attending my first Patron day at the Cave this weekend too. 😁👍

[@alancheatley4378]

Love the video of rare arcades Does anyone know of karateco kamikaze? I have one in my back room, I'm trying to fix it, but I have nothing on it 😊

[@hollybrereton3140]

Yes your karateco kamikaze will be knock-off/boot leg GALAXIAN

[@stephenschenider4007]

Sad to hear this.

[@mehere3013]

he probably sold all the good systems

[@arronfrost2872]

Boyo

[@AgentHeX_0007]

🥲

[@Pitbull0669]

WOW Just WOW OMG I LOVE THIS ! I WISH I WAS THERE! Give me the contact info on the PCBs :) Would Love to find a William's INFERNO!

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks Steve I’ll keep a look out for you